A Lull In Sunspot Activity - G1-Class Geomagnetic Storm Hit Earth Today - October 21-22. 2023.

Low Solar Activity Expected 21-23 October 2023. Only five assigned sunspot regions are currently present on the visible solar disk. All regions are magnetically simple and unlikely to produce significant flare activity over the 21-23 Oct. 2023. National Solar Observatory (NSO) Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) helioseismology is a method to help provide clues of potential active regions beyond the Earth-facing disk and even those observations do not reveal any notable echos about to rotate into Earth-view. However, caution is always used with these observations because of capability limitations and since sunspot groups can form quite quickly. It is not uncommon to experience less sunspots and decreases in solar activity as a solar cycle progresses. Despite this current lull, the solar cycle continues to progress towards maximum. Geomagnetic Storm The Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field carried past Earth via the solar wind has been tipped south since Friday at 17:40 UTC (Oct 20). Because of this condition, minor (G1) geomagnetic storming has been observed at higher latitudes. Solar Wind The solar wind environment is expected to remain enhanced late on 21 Oct. due to waning CME influences. An additional weak enhancement is expected late on 21 Oct through 23 Oct due to CIR (co-rotating Interaction Region) effects followed by negative polarity Coronal Hole High Speed Stream (CH HSS) influences. Thanks for watching! #solarwind #solaractivity #solarstorm Images credit: NOAA/SWPC, AIA/SDO/HMI, NSO, GONG, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Music credit: YouTube Audio Library